Philippine Presidential Palace welcomes survey showing majority support for Duterte’s drug war

MANILA: The Philippine Presidential Palace yesterday issued a statement welcoming a recent poll that showed 78 per cent of Filipinos approve of President Duterte’s fierce antidrug campaign, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

The survey conducted by US think tank Pew Research Centre and published Thursday showed that 86 per cent Philippinos have favourable view of Duterte.

The poll surveyed 1,000 adults in the Philippines from February to May.

“Our campaign against illegal drugs and criminals continues to get unwavering support from our people. The Palace welcomes the findings ... showing that 86 per cent of Filipinos have favourable view of PRRD, 78 per cent of Filipinos approving of PRRD’s handling of illegal drugs issue,” the presidential palace statement said, with PRRD referring to President Rodrigo Duterte.

The statement also underscored that the survey reveals 62 per cent of Filipinos believe that the government is making progress in its campaign against illegal drugs.

It added that the campaign against illegal drugs would be relentless until the drug apparatus is dismantled, the last drug pusher is out of the streets, and the last drug trafficker behind bars.

Since taking office in June 2016, Duterte has waged a war on illegal drugs, saying drug problems that grew rampantly with the connivance of the previous administration are poisoning the youth and devastating the nation.

Philippine National Police bared earlier this month that from July 1, 2016 to Aug 29, 2017, government agents have already conducted 70,854 anti-drug operations and arrested 107,156 drug personalities with 3,811 armed suspects killed during police operations.

Some international human rights organisations and western media have accused Duterte of encouraging extrajudicial killing, citing unverified reports that claimed over 7,000 were killed by Philippine police.

The Philippine government insisted there was no such thing as extrajudicial killing and they only killed suspects who resisted arrest violently.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella announced yesterday that the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the Third Philippine Universal Periodic Review Report, recognising the human rights record of the Philippines, as Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano went to United Nations to defend the government’s efforts to fight drugs problems and other crimes this week.

Abella said the UN report likewise reaffirms the government’s respect for the dignity of the Filipino people and the protection of the Filipino family as it strives for a better life in a society free of illegal drugs and other crimes. — Bernama